ILLINOIS GENERAL ASSEMBLY:
The Illinois General Assembly remains adjourned until after the November general election.
The House Health Care Availability & Accessibility Committee will hold a subject matter hearing on September 11 at 10 am in the Bilandic Building in Chicago to discuss pharmacy benefit managers and specialty medications.
The House State Government Administration Committee will hold a hearing on September 18 at 11 am in the Bilandic Building in Chicago to discuss HB 4418 .
GOVERNOR’S HIGHLIGHTS:
New Laws: Governor Pritzker has now signed all the legislation passed during the 2024 Spring Legislative Session. The Governor did not issue any amendatory or total vetoes this year.
Pritzker signed the bulk of the remaining bills on his desk (265 bills) last Friday afternoon. A full listing of the legislation signed is here. Here is a list with hot links. Highlights include:
SB 3463 Streamlines the process for implementation of juvenile expungement laws.
SB 2697 Requires insurance and Medicaid coverage of genetic cancer screening and testing for high-risk patients.
HB 4175 Prohibits the use of corporal and physical punishment in all Illinois schools (with exceptions for specific restraints) to prevent a student from imminent self-harm or harm to others
HB 5057 Removes the provision that no candidate shall be allowed to student teach or serve as the teacher of record until he or she has passed the applicable content area test.
SB 275 Requires the Secretary of State to offer applicants the option to be issued an 8-year driver’s license, beginning no later than July 1, 2027.
SB 2743 Creates the Water Plan Task Force Act to provide recommendations on addressing a variety of water-related issues.
SB 2764 Requires businesses to provide notice to their customers at least 3 days before an automatic renewal clause goes into effect after a free trial period of 15 days or more.
SB 2781 Creates the Healthy Forests, Wetlands, and Prairies Grant fund to allow DNR to make grants for the purpose of forest, prairie, and other landscape management, development, maintenance, and study to mitigate climate change impacts.
SB 3203 Prohibits insurers from denying coverage for inhalers and establishes a cap of $25 for a 30-day inhaler supply.
SB 3318 Requires the State Employees Group Insurance Program to provide coverage for all FDA-approved treatments of Alzheimer’s Disease, medications prescribed to slow Alzheimer’s Disease progression, and diagnostic testing necessary for physicians to treat Alzheimer’s Disease. Coverage begins July 1, 2025.
SB 3430 Requires HFS to develop and maintain a comprehensive informational guide on its website explaining the Medicaid 5-year look-back period as it applies to eligibility for long-term care coverage under the medical assistance program on or after July 1, 2025.
SB 3455 Provides that the Department of Revenue, in consultation with the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, shall conduct a study to evaluate the property tax system in the State.
HB 2161 Makes it a civil rights violation for an employer to discriminate or harass based on an employee’s family responsibilities.
HB 2385 Requires insurers to cover all medically necessary colonoscopies beginning January 1, 2026.
HB 3733 Amends the Illinois Human Rights Act protect employees from discrimination from the use of AI in the workplace, and ensures employers are transparent about their use of AI for employment-related decisions.
HB 4180 Requires insurance coverage for molecular breast imagery (MBI) or MRIs of breast tissue when medically necessary.
HB 4592 Allows the SOS to issue mobile ID cards and driver’s licenses.
HB 4762 Creates protections for performers and other individuals from wrongful use of Artificial Intelligence voice or melody replicas.
HB 4804 Allows public water distribution entities to use customer contact information to notify customers of any disruptions in public water distribution systems.
HB 4875 Prohibits the use of digital replicas created by generative artificial intelligence in certain content without authorization of the recording individual.
SB 2625 Prohibits certain retail establishments from displaying alcohol-infused products or co-branded alcoholic beverages immediately near similar products or products marketed towards youth and requires specific signage when displaying these products.
SB 2641 Requires every insurer to demonstrate to the Department of Insurance that each in-network hospital has at least one radiologist, pathologist, anesthesiologist, and ER physician as a preferred provider.
SB 2643 Sets requirements for inspections of funeral homes.
SB 2644 Establishes a statewide registry containing Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment Forms (POLST), describing preferred medical treatment.
SB 2662 Prohibits manufacturers from marketing e-cigarettes that are likely to cause a parent, legal guardian, teacher or other person to mistake the electronic cigarette for a product that is not a tobacco product.
SB 2737 Prohibits covenants not to compete and covenants not to solicit for licensed mental health professionals providing services to veterans or first responders.
SB 2744 Amends coverage requirements for vaccine administration fees for individual and group health insurance plans and managed care plans.
SB 2876 Creates the Large Event Facilities Act, requiring event facilities to compost organic waste and transfer recyclable materials to recycling facilities.
SB 3136 Removes a finding of positive toxicology in an infant as evidence of neglect or abuse. Creates the Family Recovery Plans Implementation Task Force to address the treatment needs of infants with prenatal substance exposure.
SB 3173 Allows counties to lease, license, or grant access to infrastructure they own or control, such as fiber optic cables, to public or private entities to help expedite the delivery of broadband services.
HB 5357 Requires insurance companies to provide homeowners insurance applicants coverage information for loss caused by a sewer backup or overflow from a sump pump.
HB 5405 Requires any state entity or hospital funded by the National Institutes of Health to adopt policies and practices that promote the inclusion of underrepresented demographic groups in clinical trials.
SB 726 Makes several changes to further enhance children’s behavioral health supports across state systems.
SB 774 Requires IDPH to create certified medication aide programs in assisted living facilities and allows a certified medication aide to administer medications under the supervision of a registered nurse.
SB 1400 Amends the School Code. Requires ISBE, in consultation with stakeholders, to develop guidance for school bus safety procedures, as well as the re-engagement of students who are suspended, expelled, or returning from an alternative school setting by July 1, 2025. It further requires that school districts must make reasonable efforts to provide ongoing professional development to all school personnel on trauma-responsive learning environments. Makes other changes.
SB 1479 Strengthens and clarifies the Department of Insurance’s market conduct examination processes.
SB 2442 Prohibits hospitals from billing uninsured patients whose income is below 138% of federal poverty guidelines if they qualify for free care under the Hospital Uninsured Patient Discount Act. Requires hospitals to provide the patient with information on insurance they may qualify for.
SB 2960 Bans small and single plastic bottles in hotels with 50 rooms or more starting July 1, 2025. Then beginning January 1, 2026, any hotel regardless the size cannot provide small and single use plastic bottles.
SB 3098 Prohibits e-cigarettes from being ordered or purchased online or by mail by any individual under the age of 21 in Illinois, excluding tobacco distributors or retailers.
SB 3314 Clarifies that the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation shall promulgate rules regarding the refinancing of consumer legal funding agreements.
SB 3481 Establishes registration requirements for sites that store used EV batteries and requires rulemaking to address safe storage of used EV batteries.
SB 3521 Requires leadership at all hospital affiliates, not just a hospital’s main campus, to report allegations of abuse to IDPH within 24 hours and follow the same reporting protocol required of hospitals.
HB 4623 Clarifies that Illinois’ child pornography laws apply to images and videos created by Artificial Intelligence technology.
HB 5511 2024 Illinois Procurement Code Omnibus.
HB 5643 Requires private insurance and Medicaid coverage of at-home, urine-based pregnancy tests.
SB 692 Creates the Task Force on Interjurisdictional Industrial Zoning Impacts to study State and local zoning laws and policies related to large industrial developments.
SB 860 Allows individuals with mental health or developmental disabilities living in care facilities to administer certain medications themselves if deemed independent by a nurse trainer.
SB 1779 Creates a certified medication aide program at the Illinois Department of Public Health for long term care facilities.
SB 2849 Allows a unit of local government to adopt reasonable rules for private party use of airspace for unmanned aircraft that is above public property under specific circumstances.
SB 3563 Extends Tax Increment Financing (TIF) authorization for the Village of Franklin Park, City of Jacksonville, City of Prophetstown, City of Ottawa, City of Salem, Village of Malta, City of Highland, City of Chicago, City of Des Plaines, City of Sullivan, and City of Oak Forest.
SB 3696 Requires producers of portable and medium-format batteries to participate in and fund a stewardship program, managed by the IEPA, for the collection, transportation, and recycling of those batteries.
SB 3713 Increases accessibility to the Illinois Crime Victims Compensation Program.
SB 3741 Prohibits managed care, individual and group health insurance plans from using prior authorization to limit doses of medication used to treat substance use disorder, eliminating another frequent barrier to addiction treatment.
SB 3751 Creates a 22-25 person Health Outcomes Review Board, housed at IDPH, to annually review and report data to “promote equitable health care outcomes, decrease health care costs, and ensure quality health care for all.”
SB 3426 Makes changes to the Motor Fuel Tax Law to amend the method for calculating percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for the purpose of annual adjustment in the tax rate and makes a clarification to the sales tax exemption for certain aircraft materials.
Executive Order: Governor Pritzker issued Executive Order 2024-02 to begin a cross-sector planning process to outline a framework for addressing the needs of older adults, people with disabilities, and caregivers over the next decade.
The Executive Order creates a new strategic position, the Chief Planning Officer, within the Illinois Department of Aging. This position will lead the development and implementation of a multi-year Multi-Sector Plan for Aging (MPA). The MPA will serve as a 10-year blueprint to support healthy aging in Illinois communities and set clear, measurable objectives for evaluating public and private sector progress toward this goal. The Chief Planning Officer will deliver the MPA to the Governor and General Assembly by December 31, 2025, and an additional status report by December 31, 2026. Read more here.
2024 Economic Growth Plan: The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity released Illinois’ 2024 Economic Growth Plan, a five-year plan to guide Illinois’ economic development priorities and programming. The plan outlines a roadmap to attract investments, create jobs and support communities over the next five years while laying the foundation for economic growth for generations to come.
Illinois’ 2024 Economic Growth Plan is guided by four overarching economic development goals:
· Focus on high-growth sectors and continue overall business climate improvements
· Advance comprehensive economic development efforts for business growth and attraction
· Promote equitable growth by empowering workers, entrepreneurs, and communities
· Build out the new clean energy economy
Cannabis Social Equity Loan Program: The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity announced the recipients of $5.5 million in loans through Round II of the Cannabis Social Equity Loan Program. Through the program, 23 qualified, licensed social equity dispensaries are receiving $240,000 in Direct Forgivable Loans financed by the State of Illinois. Applicants were selected based on factors including social equity status, financial need, financial resources, and progress toward becoming operational. Read more here.
DCEO Proposes Broadband Grants: The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity proposed rules to implement the Broadband Infrastructure Investment Act. As a means of documenting unserved and underserved locations and community anchor institutions within Illinois that qualify for federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) funding, this rulemaking replaces Federal Communications Commission broadband data maps with a dataset approved by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA, a federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce).
The rulemaking also updates an incorporation by reference of DCEO’s Connect Illinois Initial Proposal (Vol. 2), which was revised in May 2024 and approved by NTIA on 6/10/24. Information that must be submitted by BEAD grant applicants has been simplified and demonstration of financial need is no longer required, nor will it be a factor in determining grant awards. Those affected by this rulemaking include small businesses, small municipalities and non-profits that may be eligible for BEAD grant. The proposed rules can be found here on page 11415.
Venture Investment for Semiconductor Technology Advancement: The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity announced a $20 million offering through the Venture Investment for Semiconductor Technology Advancement (VISTA) initiative. This funding is targeted at strengthening Illinois’ ecosystem, catalyzing transformative innovations, and attracting substantial private investments that will drive the state’s leadership in semiconductor technology.
As part of DCEO’s $114 million Illinois Innovation Venture Fund (INVENT) program, VISTA is designed to reinforce sectors and technologies aligned with the federal CHIPS and Science Act, including initiatives spearheaded by the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC). The VISTA initiative will channel investments into businesses such as advanced computing and software; advanced materials, microelectronics, quantum science and semiconductor manufacturing and packaging. Those interested can submit an Expression of Interest via the DCEO website to get started.
OTHER NEWS:
Stateville Correction Center: A federal judge ordered the Illinois Department of Corrections to move the vast majority of those incarcerated at Stateville Correctional Center near Joliet out of the aging prison by September 30. The judge cited health and safety concerns posed by the facility. The Governor has proposed demolishing and rebuilding the facility but has faced pushback from the AFSCME, the union representing the prison employees. Read more here.